Find an Expert
May 27Welcome to the Institute of Professional Soil Scientists Pages
The Institute of Professional Soil Scientists (IPSS) is the professional body of the British Society of Soil Science and aims to promote and enhance the status of soil science and allied disciplines.
Together with the British Society of Soil Science our aims are:
- Improving soil education and developing soil scientists
- Supporting standards of practice
- Promoting the use of soil science
The IPSS is lead by a Committee which overseas the governance and running of the professional body in accordance with the terms of reference.
Latest Events
SSDG: Soil Amendment Meeting
May 30
The British Society of Soil Science and Institute of Professional Soil Scientists are holding a one-day meeting on Thursday the 30th of May, at SRUC’s Peter Wilson Building in Edinburgh. The aim of the meeting is to bring together industry and academic members of the soil amendment community, to encourage discussion and potential collaboration. A series of short talks will be held on different types of soil amendment, with discussion sessions during lunch (which will be provided) and in the afternoon. If you are interested in attending or have any queries, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Northern Soils Network - Summer Meeting
June 26
This year the NSN summer meeting will be hosted by the Soils Group from Newcastle University at Nafferton Farm. The programme will run from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm and will include a series of presentations in the morning from Newcastle University and ADAS researchers, followed by lunch and a farm walk in the afternoon. The walk will include visits to the Nafferton Ecological Farming Group’s long term organic versus conventional field trials, the ADAS pasture soil compaction plots, and an overview of the side-by-side organic and conventional dairy and field operations at Nafferton. Members FREE but please register, Non-Members £5.00.
Annual Meeting 2013 - Soil Science and Biogeochemistry: translating across temporal and spatial scales
September 3 — September 5
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS & REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
Abstracts for Oral and Poster presentations are now invited for presentation at the 2013 British Society of Soil Science Conference that address the conference six themes.
Themes
- Soils and water
- Soils and the atmosphere
- Soils and plants
- Soil nutrient residence and travel times
- General call for soil science papers
- Soil Café Workshops – Soils, stakeholders and society, plus other topics invited
Prof Dan Richter from Duke University, USA and Dr Benjamin Turner (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama) with give keynote lectures. When you submit your abstract please indicate whether you would intend your paper to be oral or poster and we will do our best to match your requirements. Please understand that spaces for orals will be limited. Abstracts must be submitted using the online form. Closing date for abstracts 14th June 2013.
Working with Soils Training: Foundation skills in field soil investigation and description
September 4
This one day course run by the IPSS will provide basic skills training in field soil investigation and description. Delegates will learn how and where to dig/ auger soils safely in order to expose representative soil profiles and how to descrbe soil materials and the soil profile consiststantly. including: working safetly; chosing representative sites; digging, preparing and backfilling a soil pit, describing soil materials and soil profiles; and choosing and using augers.
Delegate spaces are limited, book now to avoid disappointment
Latest news
BSSS Launch You Tube Channel
WRAP’s Good Practice Guide
First published in 2011, WRAP’s Good Practice Guide: Using PAS 100 compost in Landscape and Regeneration Projects has been revised and is available at www.wrap.org.uk/landscapegpg.
House of Lords report on HE STEM subjects published
The House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology has published its report on HE STEM subjects
Features:
Soils fundamental to the future of mankind
The British Society of Soil Science today co-hosted Earth Under Pressure: Maximising the value of soils at The Planet Under Pressure conference with the James Hutton Institute, Rothamsted Research and UNEP. Society President, Dr Helaina Black, introduced the session saying "there is an obvious but neglected opportunity to tackle many of the world's pressing environmental issues by improving soil quality globally".
Highlights
- Poverty is the biggest cause of soil degradation in the Himalayan region of India. This is driven by small-holdings, less technical know-how and poor take up of new approaches. (Dr Vikas Sharma).
- Most soil data is over 20 years old and not joined up. Dr Neil McKenzie, CSIRO Land and Water said "Scratching around at our current evidence base (on soils) is frankly embarrassing." Soil data is needed to address food and water security, carbon storage and other challenges faces mankind. There is a need to regularly monitor global soil conditions and the indications from most regions show that the warning signs are serious. This requires regular assessments: mapping, monitoring and forecasting. We need to rebuild the technical capability for surveying soil so that we can make regular reviews of soil quality, just as the IPCC does with the greenhouse gas inventory.
- Prof Diana Wall, Colorado State University "What matters is food webs, not just biodiversity." The function of organisms is much more important than just assessing numbers. Plant roots offer considerable untapped potential to harness more soil to address yield gaps. Prof Peter Gregory said "This is an exciting time to be a soil scientist" as they now have new opportunities in genetics and analytical sciences to understand how plants function and interact with their environment.
Planet Under Pressure 2012
The British Society of Soil Science will co-host the soils session at The Planet Under Pressure conference on Tuesday 27th March, where world renowned scientists will debate the opportunities to maximise the benefits from soils for society now and in 100 years. The Society's President, Helaina Black, says "there is an obvious but neglected opportunity to tackle many of the world's pressing environmental issues by improving soil quality globally. We hope that the RIO20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development will grasp this opportunity".
EJSS Photographic Competition
This year's EJSS Photographic competition 1st prize was split equally between Dr O Knox and Dr Mataix-Solera for their collections entitled "Vertisols of the slopes and plains" and "The colours of the age" respectivly. 2nd prize went to Dr Louhelainen for his collection archeological inspired pictures.Thank you to all who entered this years competition - don't forget to get snapping for next years entries!
Society Awards: Dr Rob Parkinson
Dr Rob Parkinson, University of Plymouth, was presented with a long service award by Society president Dr Helaina Black. Rob has been an integral part of the Society Council and the South West regional group for more years than he would like me to mention. Thank you for all your help and support over the years.
Society Awards: Dr Bob Rees
Dr Bob Rees, SAC was given a long service award at the recent Society Conference dinner. The award was accepted by Christine Watson on behalf of Bob. Bob has been a member of the BSSS Council and heavily involved with the Society for more than 12 years. Thank you for all your hard work Bob!
Society Awards: Prof. Keith Smith
Margaret Oliver accepted a long service and outstanding contribution award on behalf of Professor Keith Smith. Keith is a past president of the Society and most recently deputy Editor of the European Journal of Soil Science. Keith you will be missed as part of the EJSS editorial team thank you for your many many years of service to the Society.
IPSS Launch Working with Soils
Defra Deputy Chief Scientific Advisor, Dr Miles Parker, helped launch Working with Soil. Devised by the Institute of Professional Soil Scientists (IPSS), this new professional competency scheme identifies minimum qualifications, skills and knowledge for practising soils scientists carrying out a range of key tasks. Miles stated that 'Defra welcomes initiatives, such as the IPSS Working with Soils Competency Statements, that aim to improve the quality of professional soils advice'.
Annual Meeting 2011
Thank you to all of you that attended our 2011 meeting this week in London and made it such a success. More pictures will follow shortly on the Society Facebook pages.
Soil Profile: Professor Keith Goulding FI Soil Sci, CSci
Works for: Rothamsted Research
Education: BSc Chemistry and Mathematics (Exeter University)
MSc in Soil Chemistry (University of Reading)
PhD in ion exchange in soil (Imperial College, London)
Personal Interests: bird watching, walking
Burning Ambition: Another academic paper published in Nature
Soil Profile:Mr Padraic Mulroy MI Soil Sci, CSci
Works for: Mulroy Environmental
Education: B.Sc. (Microbiology), NUI Galway
M.Sc., University of Florida (Soil and Water Science)
Personal interests: sports (rowing, rugby, sailing), reading historic novels
Burning Ambition: Secure the future of my company
Soil Profile: Mr Tim O'Hare MI Soil Sci, CSci
Works for: Tim O'Hare Associates
Education: BSc Geography, Masters in Pedology, Soil Survey and Land Evaluation at Redding University
Personal interests: Family and sport. Running, triathlons, surfing, rugby.
Eurosoil 2012 Call for abstracts
The 4th International congress of the European Confederation of Soil Science Societies (ECSSS), 2-6 July 2012 Bari, Italy. Call for Abstracts
Event
This one day course run by the IPSS will provide basic skills training in field soil investigation and description. Delegates will learn how and where to dig/ auger soils safely in order to expose representative soil profiles and how to descrbe soil materials and the soil profile consiststantly. including: working safetly; chosing representative sites; digging, preparing and backfilling a soil pit, describing soil materials and soil profiles; and choosing and using augers.
Delegate spaces are limited, book now to avoid disappointment
© IPSS 2011
The Institute of Professional Soil Scientists is a trading name of the British Society of Soil Science which is a limited company, registered in England and Wales and a Registered Charity No. 1134456.